Beautiful and Quirky Sintra, Portugal. Sintra, Portugal is a UNESCO World Heritage site full of castles, gardens and palatial villas dating back to the eighth and ninth centuries. A blend of Romantic, Moorish and Gothic architecture styles makes Sintra pretty beyond belief. Surprisingly there’s also a quirky side to this small town of 3,000 people that you would not expect. Lucky for me, I’m all about the weird and offbeat!
Beautiful and Quirky Sintra, Portugal
Sintra’s an easy day trip from Lisbon (about 30 KM’s away) and the perfect place to come and relax in a peaceful and quiet atmosphere . You can hang out in castles, see how the rich and famous once lived and take a romantic picnic in the park.
Walking through town, you’ll come across all sorts of modern art, one hell of perverted statue and an extraordinarily beautiful bus stop.
Umm, just is what is happening here? It’s so wrong! For some reason, this satyr (part goat and man) is anatomically correct, much more so than necessary. Our group of travel bloggers stood staring at this statue in disbelief for quite some time.
There may even be a picture of me inappropriately cupping him floating around the Interwebz. 🙂
A reflection of Portugal’s Moorish influence, I couldn’t help but wish there were more bus stops like this in the world.
This is Sintra National Palace, restored during the 1940’s and now stands as an important national monument.
The beauty of Sintra, Portugal only continued. This building is across the street from the palace. I love the blue on blue.
Next, we stopped by a small shop for some tasty treats, drinking a cherry flavoured liqueur from a chocolate cup! I was further entertained by their odd collection of merchandise including “healing wine” and a story about the Legend of the Cock.
Before leaving town, we stopped by Hotel Tivoli Palacio de Seteais to gaze at the stunning building and take in the romantic surroundings.
Our tour of Sintra, Portugal was quick and to the point. We Hate Tourism Tours had other plans in store for us like visiting the beachside town of Caiscais!
Before we busted a move, I was able to take one last farewell shot of Monserrate Palace.
If you’re looking for a place to party like a rock star, Sintra is not the place for you. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in beauty, culture and romance for a day (or more), then you’re going to fall deeply in love with Sintra.
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*Disclosure – My stay in Lisbon and tours of the surrounding area was kindly sponsored by HouseTrip. Any opinions expressed about my love for Portugal are entirely my own.
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Sintra is one of my favorite places in Portugal, particularly the palaces and whimsical gardens. Nice revisiting through your post!
@Cat – Thanks, glad you enjoyed the memories. 🙂
Looks so lovely!!! The fellow has been to Portugal before (I haven’t) and it’s one of the top places he wants to take me. I am excited to eventually explore it too!
@Natalye – It’s very lovely. The two of you will have a marvellous time in Sintra and well, Portugal in general. 🙂
I love your photo of the blue building, Cheryl. Sintra looks beautiful!
@Adam – Thank you Adam. 🙂
Sintra looks a beautiful town worth exploring Cheryl and your pics really give a feel for the place. I love the mask statue and as for Dr Wine that sounds like my kind of medicine. I wasn’t even aware of Sintra but I’m sure it would be preferable to exploring some of the bigger cities.
@Iain – It’s very lovely! Wish I had been able to stay longer than an hour or two. Hope you see it someday for yourself …
I love it! This is the type of place I could spend a week or two just relaxing with my family.
Yeah, I think it's a perfect place to relax and get away from it all. Especially, with family. 🙂
Gothic architecture and cherry liqueurs always get me.
@Nat – Ha ha! 🙂
Love your eye for picking out the quirky. Sintra looks lovely.
@Laurel – Ha ha! I love quirky mostly because I’m quirky. 😉
I enjoyed the town at Sintra so much more than the castle itself…lovely photos!
@Andrea – Thanks and me too! It’s a lovely place to explore and wander.
How could you not make a comment about the Legend of Cock?
@Stephanie – Figured there was enough commentary about that bizarre statue!
I’m so jealous of your trip. I went this year in January and it was all foggy and rainy, couldn’t see much! Great pictures!
@My Travel Affairs – It just means you need to go back again. 😀
I'm so jealous of your trip. I went this year in January and it was all foggy and rainy, couldn't see much! Great pictures!
Beautiful! It looks like the kind of place I could just walk around in for days.
@Dean – Yes, it certainly is … there are some nice trails for hiking too.
Beautiful. Portugal is high on my list and Sintra is one place I’d love to visit.
@Jenna – Thank you! Portugal is one of my favorite countries ever! 🙂
Thanks! I hope you can make it back when it's sunny. 🙂
It’s so beautiful and so close to Lisbon!
The Sintra Castle is one of its kind… But from your photos we get a detailed, deeper look at how Sintra’s other architectural beauties look like.
I really enjoyed Sintra! I want to go there again and explore more someday. 🙂
Our time there was far too brief.
Your Blog is fantastic!!!
My name is Hugo and I am an official guide in Lisbon. I loved your article about Sintra.
I invite everybody to came to Portugal. It’s a country to be discovered, like you did when you went to places where even some Portuguese are not …
Thanks
Hugo Gonçalves
Hi Hugo,
Glad you like my blog. I work pretty hard to keep it going. 🙂
I adore Portugal and do hope to get back there someday! I hope that more people visit as well. It’s one of my favourite places in the world.
Best,
Cheryl